The encounter between President Bola Tinubu and his United States of America counterpart, Joe Biden, at the G20 Summit in New Delhi, India, illustrated the proxy status that African leaders have demoted themselves to before the major powers, especially the West.

Biden “commended” Tinubu for his efforts towards “preserving the rule of law and democracy” in the Niger Republic as the leader of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS. This calls for the urgent repositioning of the ECOWAS and the African Union, AU, if they are to recover their relevance as the regional umbrellas fronting the interests of the continent.

Biden showered Tinubu and his colleagues with this praise for threatening military action against a sovereign country whose military dethroned a puppet regime that primarily served the interests of their former colonial master, France. France, China, Russia, and the United States have strategic military and economic interests in Niger that are under threat in the new dispensation.

The only interest that Tinubu and his fellow West African leaders have in the Niger imbroglio is the fear that their own hold on power could be endangered. Apart from that, Nigeria’s national interest was never threatened by the change of government. If anything, the sanctions we imposed on Niger – border closure, blockage of her access to our ports, and severance of power supply – could turn around to hurt our economic, social, and security interests.

For instance, Nigeria is a major market for the Niger Republic’s huge livestock resources and agricultural products, which we need to supplement our shortfall due to insecurity. Besides, the Niger Republic is a strong and reliable partner in the regional coalition against Boko Haram and ISWAP, especially around the Lake Chad region. These and other matters of national interest should have defined how we led ECOWAS to respond to the Niger Republic coup.

The AU and ECOWAS have now become largely social clubs for the ceremonial posturing of African presidents and heads of state. Their members have submitted themselves as willing horses to be ridden roughshod by overseas powers. Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa, is the only region in the Third World that remains strongly attached to its former colonial masters.

These regional organisations have little relevance to their people. Why has the New Partnership for Africa, NEPAD, collapsed? Why can’t Africa implement the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, AfCFTA? Why is the African High Command a failure? What about the growing xenophobia towards other African migrants in some African countries? AU and ECOWAS have failed to transform Africa into a proper community that leverages its potential to grow, as the European Union has successfully done.

African countries must learn from other former colonies in the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America, which are growing because they asserted their independence.

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